Big News on the Arizona-Houston Showdown

Since taking over Arizona, head coach Tommy Lloyd has been one of the most successful up-and-coming coaches in college basketball going 112-33 over the course of the last four seasons making the NCAA Tournament each season and leading the program to three Sweet Sixteen appearances.

This past season, Lloyd and his program entered a new era of Arizona basketball with the Wildcats leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big 12 Conference. In UA’s first season in a new conference, the team went 24-13 while finishing third in the conference standings.

Mar 27, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils during an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

In the Big 12 Tournament, the Wildcats made it to the conference title game and fell 72-64 to Houston, which would go on to play for the National Title.

Following the end to the season, Arizona lost star guard Caleb Love to graduation and forward Carter Bryant to the NBA Draft where he went No. 14 overall to the San Antonio Spurs.

Plus, Arizona saw two key players in KJ Lewis and Henri Veesaar leave the program and transfer to Power 4 programs.

Mar 15, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard KJ Lewis (5) drives to the basket against the Houston Cougars during the second half for the Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship game at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Despite that, Arizona will be fully loaded again with four key returners in Jaden Badley, Tobe Awaka, Anthony Dell’Orso and Motiejus Krivas. Plus, Lloyd and his staff signed the No. 2 recruiting class according to 24/7 Sports.

We are inching closer to the start of the college basketball season with Arizona tipping off its schedule against defending national champions in the Florida Gators in Las Vegas 32 days from now.

The Big 12 is regarded as one of the top conferences in college hoops and the conference slate of games will be hard for any team to navigate this season.

Nov 4, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats center Motiejus Krivas (14) dunks the ball against the Canisius Golden Griffins during the second half at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Arizona and Lloyd have set up one of the toughest non-conference slate of games in the country with the Wildcats facing Florida, UConn, UCLA, Alabama, Auburn and San Diego State as the marquee games.

The Wildcats have released their full non-conference schedule for the 2025-26 season and features eight home games with Auburn headlining the McKale Center slate of games.

Arizona and the Big 12 have released the dates for the conference games with times and stations still to be announced.

Mar 13, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) protects the ball during the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Although the Wildcats finished third in their first year in the Big 12, arguably the two best teams were Arizona and Houston, which only played once during the regular season and then matched up in the conference championship game.

Last season, the Cougars got the better of the Wildcats going 2-0 in two very close games that came down to the wire.

Big 12 hoops on the big screen 📺 pic.twitter.com/kqCKSwm2lm
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 1, 2025

Now, news has come out that the Arizona-Houston game will be televised on ABC with a tip-off time set for 3 p.m. (MST) on Feb. 21, and will be one of three games from the Big 12 on the ABC channel.

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